January 2010 Newsletter
Priorities for 2010
Director Nick Parry shares his thoughts.
How do you measure success in your business? Metrics often include market share, customer service levels and operational efficiency, although the main measure that we can all relate to is an increase in revenue and profit.
Your business plan may have a detailed strategy for lead generation to reach your sales targets. A simple and effective plan is to contact your prospective customers and turn them into customers.
So why doesn’t this work for many businesses?
Tactical sales is a successful means for prospecting and helps to develop a solid list of sales leads to expand your future pipeline, however, implementing this approach can be difficult. There are several building blocks that need to be in place to make this work such as a clear plan with measurement of success, who the target is, the correct contact information, the key messages, the right marketing material and most importantly the right person to make the calls. Even the most confident sales person doesn’t relish the idea of making cold calls.
If any one of these building blocks is not in place then the whole strategy can fail.
This is not an activity to attempt without a solid structure in place. If you would Branch to help you convert cold calls into leads and revenue – contact us to find out more.
Branch provides expert support, knowledge and advice to help grow your business
Client Focus
Biocensus Limited
Branch carried out a top to bottom review of Biocensus and provided a strategy to support the growth plans that Biocensus aimed for. Biocensus were looking for a significant increase in sales opportunities as well as a greater ability to convert leads into profit.
The review and subsequent strategy devised and followed has allowed the company to understand and target their potential customers better. It has also focused the company on where it really adds value to its customers, resulting in a clearer value proposition.
Branch presented Biocensus with a sales and marketing plan to support their growth strategy that included generating opportunities via tactical sales. This approach has been a simple one with a focus on clear messaging and effective follow up to key prospects. Opportunities have been increased five fold in the last year.
"As Ecologists we realised we had limitations in our ability to grow the company. We have always delivered excellence in everything we do but were perhaps unclear as how to generate more opportunities. This has changed dramatically with the help of Branch and we are now confident that we can grow the company significantly whilst maintaining our delivery capability and ethical approach. We highly recommend Branch if you want your company to realise its potential."
Dr. Tim Hounsome, Managing Director, Biocensus Limited
For more information on how Branch has helped Biocensus and to see how we can support your business please call 0845 459 6425 or email info@branchgrowth.com.
Effective Marketing
Marketing Plans
Just as Nick wrote about the sales element of the business plan, it is imperative that you also have a marketing plan. Some companies do carry out their marketing without a plan, but then they do not know if they are being effective, what are their objectives and how they measure the outcome?
Having a marketing strategy and plan enables campaigns to be clear and focussed. It ensures the activity is aimed at the identified target to meet the marketing objectives. If you have a plan it is possible to also manage resources, time and budget making the overall business strategy more efficient.
As a result of the success of last month’s Sales Review offer, in this newsletter we would like to provide our subscribers with a free Marketing Review. Contact us on 01225 822089 to find out more.
Partner focus – IT Focus
"Most companies believe their pitch is too complicated to outsource to a telemarketing agency and this is where we have proved time and time again our ability to understand the customer requirement and relay it in a clear and concise manner to the target audience" says James.
The key to the success of IT Focus is in its market expertise, the relationships it builds with customers and its unusually high staff retention rate, a rarity in an industry that is renowned for its low pay and high turnover of staff.
The hardest part of sales is getting out and finding leads, so IT Focus acts as a virtual lead generation department, dedicated to providing good quality sales leads. The company has recently delivered an impressive £600K pipeline for an IT Solutions Provider!
Tips from IT Focus
Here are a few questions to ask when you are looking to outsource your tactical sales lead:
- Does the company understand the industry?
- What are the staff retention rates?
- How does the company reward their employees?
- Do you have direct contact with the individual(s) making the calls and not just with the account manager?
- Can you get access to the recordings of the calls to ensure the quality?
Are you happy with your sales pipeline? If you would like to talk about your lead generation further please contact Branch on 01225 822089